Pomp, Circumstance, and Puzzle Bling?
by Jennifer Darknight
Summary: A series of oneshots and drabbles taking place in the same universe as "Heroism". :2: It always kept going right back to the cards, didn't it?
1. Tactics

**Title: **Tactics  
**Characters: **Miho Nosaka, the Nameless Pharaoh, Yuugi Mutou  
**Genre: **General  
**Rating: **G  
**Summary: **Everyone had their own way of dueling. Miho was no exception  
**Note**: I admit, Divine Grace -- Northwemko is a relatively new card for the 5Ds series, but since it's a single ritual card (which is a Light Spellcaster, to boot), I figured I could let it slide just this once. I sort of imagine her as the opposite to Yami's Dark Magician, as with Miho and Yami, I imagine a sort of Light-and-Dark theme going on with not only their personalities, but their decks as well.  
**Written to: **The Odin Sphere Theme, by Noriko Kawahara

* * *

Everyone had their patron cards. The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle was a good example--there wasn't a duel when the Dark Magician hadn't shone within his deck, bringing himself onto the battlefield and claiming victory for his wielder with all the efficiency of the most well-trained soldier. His dark monsters, alongside his brutal tactics, were well descriptive of his own harsh, unrelenting personality. He may have inherited a woman's body, but his technique was anything _but_, his card choices a dead giveaway to anyone who knew his host personally that he was most certainly not the feminine creature that she was.

His tactics were straightforward, strong...

Nothing like _hers_.

"Because her Marshmallon and Chaos Command Magician are on the field, Miho's Divine Grace can't be destroyed!"

It was almost disturbing how the girl could smile like that, especially when everyone in the room knew that she was going to be beaten again. Yuugi was one of the only duelists who the Spirit considered a decent challenge, and Miho was nowhere near his level. She was still a beginner, a child in the face of adults. The light deck he had helped her construct was well-suited to her personality and tactics on the dueling field, but she was nowhere near the level of being able to wield it properly and well...

She had even complained about some of her cards not being _cute_. Who cared if Chaos Command Magician wasn't 'cute', if he was protected from monster effects?! As far as Light Spellcasters went, he was one of the best.

"And," Miho said, still smiling, "My summon activates my trap card, "Gift of the Mystical Elf." Miho gains 1500 life points because there are 5 monsters on the field! Miho's at 2600 now!"

_"And Yuugi's at 3000."_

"Yuu," she pouted, "don't be so mean! I know he's at 3000! But Miho's going to win this time!"

"Um, Miho..." Yuugi's fingers touched his trap card, fingering the surface a little. "I'm sorry to say it, but um..."

He turned the card over.

"Torrential Tribute."


	2. Constant

**Title: **Constant

**Characters: **Miho Nosaka and Dark Yuugi / Pharaoh Atem / "Yuu"

**Genre: **Introspective, Friendship, slight angst.

**Rating: **G

**Summary: **Everything goes back to the cards. Even her relationship with Yuu, the strange man living in her head.

**Note: **This takes place during Battle City, before the semi-finals, but after they get on the duel blimp.

It was strange how the cards had grown to be a constant--in her world of glittering jewelry, ribbons, flirting, and shopping trips, one would think that it would be all there was to it; nothing substantial, and certainly nothing that came close to a more masculine hobby, mostly played by twelve-year-old boys or older men who didn't seem to know how to get a life or a girlfriend (though in Yuugi's case, it wasn't so much that he didn't know how to get a life--after all, gaming _was_ his life--or that he didn't know how to get a girlfriend...it was just that said would-be girlfriend seemed to be etiher blind or oblivious to his advances). But there they were, sitting in that golden box on her desk when she was at home, or in her pocket in that glittery pink plastic case (one which Yuu was not at all fond of--especially since he had to extract cards from said pink case prior to a duel. If he hadn't inherited a female body, Kaiba probably would have never let him live it down, shattering his manliness for all the world to see) when she went out. When she needed them, they were there. And even when she didn't, they were still there, just in case she _did_ need them.

Sometimes, she found herself shuffling her deck when she needed to think, or tapping along the familiar surface of the cards in a moment of confusion or anxiety.

Always there, always constant, even when she hadn't intended them to be.

Even now, she found herself playing with one of them in her hands, staring at the window as the scenery seemed to fly past them, her home no more than a small blip on the horizon and KaibaCorp's pilot's radar screen.

Dark Magician Girl. The female companion to Dark Magician, cursed with a mere 2000 attack points, but blessed with the special ability to gain strength when her master was sent into the graveyard. Alone, she could be formidable against a weaker opponent, but it was with the power of Dark Magician, her male counterpart, that she truly shone. Either beside him or after his fall, Dark Magician Girl could step up to the challenge and truly fight the good fight even against unsurmountable odds. That, and with her power she could bring him forth, without any sacrifices or unnecessary mess--just with her own unique magic.

...

_This sounds a little familiar._ Miho thought, glancing down at the puzzle, and then towards the card again.

_**What does?**_

She had to chuckle at the questioning tone of the spirit, so long in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed his inquiring mental touch until the question was already asked. Maybe that's what happened after a while--you grew so used to something that it was like it was always there, to the point where you didn't keep it at the forefront of your mind or constantly contemplate its presence. As it was, Yuu tended to keep his mouth shut more often during these moments of contemplation, as the boundaries between them had started to grow larger and smaller all at once.

"It's nothing," she said after a moment. "Miho's just thinking about her cards." She paused, correcting herself. "Miho and Yuu's cards."

_**They're sufficient,**_ the spirit said, though whether or not he was privy to what Miho was truly thinking was anyone's guess, _**we'll win. Whoever it is we battle, we will win.**_

"I know." She had no doubt of that; as long as the two of them stood together and did what they had to--and Miho didn't feel fear, didn't want to run away...not like she had wanted to do during her early duels, even when the Spirit had decided to take over--things would turn out all right, and the duel would be won. The God Cards would be gathered, and Yuu would be one step closer to regaining his memories.

And Miho would...

Miho would keep holding onto the cards, perhaps. Keep them warm for when Yuu needed her body or their deck to go and duel again.

Or to keep her steady when it was ever her turn to duel.

...

It did always keep going back to the cards, didn't it?


End file.
